‘Is she working in a gallery now?’
‘No, she’s in the tourist industry, so she’s used to handling foreigners and, as you know, is from an indigenous background, so the artists would like her.’
‘Does she speak Arrernte?’ Mirrin’s face had brightened.
‘You’d have to ask her,’ I fudged, ‘but she definitely speaks Yawuru. And as you saw, she wouldn’t take any messing when it came to the sale.’
‘Is she looking for a job then?’
‘Yes.’
I saw Francis was watching me with amusement as I sold this person he’d only briefly heard of before.
‘Not gonna lie to you, Celaeno, the money’s not good,’ Mirrin said.
‘No one’s in art for the money, are they? They do it for love,’ I replied.
‘Some of us are.’ She eyed my grandfather. ‘Well, ya tell her to come and see me. Fast,’ she said as she flinched again. ‘I’m here every day this week.’
‘I will. Can you write down your number for me? I’ll get her to give you a call to arrange it.’
She did so, and I left the gallery in high excitement.
‘So, exactly who is this Chrissie?’ Francis asked me as we walked back to the truck.
‘A friend of mine,’ I said, as I hopped onto the passenger seat.
‘Where does she live?’
‘Broome.’
‘Isn’t that a little far to commute to work here every day?’ he asked as he reversed out of our parking space and we headed home.
‘Yes, but if she got the job, I’m sure she’d be prepared to move. She loved it when we were here together a couple of weeks ago. She’s an absolutely brilliant person, like, she’s totally inspirational and so passionate about art. You’d love her. I know you would.’
‘If you love her, Celaeno, I’m sure I will too.’
‘I’m going to ring her the minute I get home, tell her to call Mirrin. She’ll have to fly down here as soon as possible. It’s a shame I’ve just booked my flight and I leave tomorrow.’
‘You were the one who insisted on the non-refundable ticket,’ he reminded me.
‘Well, if she got the job, maybe we could share an apartment in town.’ My mind immediately raced forward to a future with Chrissie in it, both of us surrounded by art.
‘Or you could come and live with me, and keep house for your old grandfather,’ Francis suggested as we pulled into the drive.
‘That would be nice too,’ I said, grinning at him.
‘Tell her there’s a bed for her here. She’ll need to stop over for the night when she comes to meet Mirrin. I’ll give her some Arrernte lessons,’ he added as he unlocked the door and I ran to get my mobile from the sitting room.
‘That’s really great of you, thanks,’ I said, and dialled Chrissie’s number. She answered on the second ring.
‘Hello, stranger,’ she said. ‘Thought you’d disappeared off the face of the earth.’
‘I texted you to say I’d been out Bush painting,’ I said, smiling into my mobile because I was so happy to hear her voice. ‘With my grandfather,’ I added for good measure.
‘Strewth! So, are you related to Namatjira?’
‘No, although my grandfather is an artist.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Francis Abraham.’
There was a pause on the line.
‘Ya kidding me!’
‘No, why? Have you heard of him?’
‘Just a bit, Cee! He was in Papunya with Clifford Possum and painted the Wheel of Fire and—’
‘Yeah, that’s the one.’ I stopped her mid-sentence. ‘Listen, can you bunk a day or two off work to come to the Alice?’
‘I . . . why?’
I explained, and the frostiness that had been in her voice when she’d first answered melted away.
‘That sounds beaut, though she won’t offer me the job when she hears I work on the tourist information desk at Broome airport. You’ve made me sound as though I’m the curator of the Canberra National Gallery!’
‘Where’s your positivity? Of course she will!’ I chided her. ‘It’s worth a shot, anyway, and my grandfather says you can stay at his place overnight.’
‘The prob is, Cee, I’m not sure I’ve got the moolah for the ticket. I used up all my spare cash last time I was in the Alice.’
‘Because you paid for the hotel, silly,’ I reminded her. ‘Hold on a minute . . .’
I asked my grandfather if Chrissie could use his credit card to book the flight in exchange for the dollars that I still had from the sale of my first painting.
‘Of course,’ he said, handing the card to me. ‘Tell her I’ll collect her from the airport too.’
‘Thanks so much,’ I said and reported the good news to Chrissie.
‘Am I dreaming? I thought that when I didn’t hear from you, I’d frightened you off . . .’
‘I’m sorry I didn’t call. Things were busy this end and’ – I swallowed – ‘I just wanted some time to think stuff through.’
‘I understand. Never mind for now,’ she said after a pause. ‘Ya can tell me all about it when I get there.’
‘Actually, I can’t, because I’m booked to fly back to England tomorrow.’
‘Oh.’ She fell silent.
‘It’s a return ticket, Chrissie. I’ve got to go home and sort my life out, put my apartment on the market and see my family.’
‘You mean you’re coming back?’
‘Yeah, course I am, as soon as I can. I’m gonna live here in the Alice. And . . . it would be great if you were here too.’
‘You mean it?’
‘I never say things I don’t mean, you should know that. Anyway, you’ll have my grandfather to keep you company when you arrive, and from the sounds of things, you’ll be far more excited to see him than me,’ I teased her.
‘Ya know that’s not true. How soon will you be back?’
‘In about ten days. Now, get off the phone to me and call Mirrin, then book a flight and I’ll text you my grandfather’s number so you can call him with the details.’
‘Okay. Honest, Cee, I dunno how to thank you.’
‘Then don’t. Good luck and I’ll see you soon.’
‘Yeah. Miss ya.’
‘I miss you too. Bye.’
I clicked off the phone and thought that I really did miss her. There was a long way to go because I wasn’t sure yet what form the relationship between us would take, but it didn’t matter because I was moving forward. One way or another, during the past few weeks it had been feeling much better to be me.
‘By the Grace of God, I am who I am,’ I whispered, and out of it all, I knew I had learnt something important: I was certainly bicultural, possibly bisexual, but I definitely didn’t want to be by myself.
‘All sorted?’ Francis wandered into the sitting room.
‘I hope so. She’s gonna book the flight and let you know what time it lands.’
‘Perfect,’ he said. ‘I’m hungry. You?’
‘Starving, as it happens.’
‘I’ll go and do something with eggs then.’
‘Okay, I’m off to pack.’
‘Right.’ He paused in the hallway. ‘Does your Chrissie cook?’
Remembering her homemade cakes, I nodded. ‘Yeah, she does.’
‘Good. I’m glad you’ve found your person, Celaeno,’ he said as he ambled off along the corridor.
*
‘Take care of yourself, won’t you?’ my grandfather said as he gave me a hug in the airport departures lounge and I thought how great it felt to have two people who really didn’t want me to leave Australia.